Friday, August 24, 2012

Armstrong to be Stripped of Tour de France Titles

Lance Armstrong will be stripped of his seven Tour titles, the bronze medal he won at the 2000 Olympics and all other titles (victories in the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and Tour de Suisse, etc.), awards and money he won from August 1998 forward according to the World Anti-Doping Code as a result of saying that he would not continue to contest the charges brought against him by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Armstrong was faced with a August 23rd deadline to inform the USADA if he would take the case to a full public arbitration hearing or accept the punishments.

"There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now," Armstrong said in a statement. "I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by (USADA's) Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt. The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today - finished with this nonsense."

The charges by the USADA against Lance Armstrong can be readhere (pdf).

Armstrong's decision to not contest the charges also means he will be barred for life from competing, coaching or having any official role with any Olympic sport or other sport that follows the World Anti-Doping Code.

The battle between Armstrong and the UCI may not be over. His attorneys have stated that the USADA cannot move forward with any punishment until the UCI's independent review panel sees the collected dossier of evidence against Armstrong and settles the dispute regarding its jurisdiction in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has not yet commented on the possibility of having seven Tour podiums since 1999 altered.

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